Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
It sounds so… cold. And I can’t help wondering if she hasn’t been in contact with my mom again.
“What does she say?” Kane asks, eager for more news about her as much as I should be.
“Nothing much,” I tell him. “Just that she’s busy. And am I home yet?” I gulp.
It’s the last part that gives me chills.
Abby suddenly sounds a lot like my mom, convincing me that she must’ve been talking to her instead of me since she left.
Or maybe that’s just my old paranoia creeping back in.
He lets out a sound of annoyance, and standing up, he moves to head inside.
“Well. If Abby’s texting you, she has her phone on her… I’ll just call her up myself,” he grumbles to himself.
Leaving me to decide just how much of a reply I wanna give Abby right now.
Or do I just leave it? Should I let Kane handle it from here?
Either way, I can’t help feeling between a rock and a hard place right now.
Abby and I tell each other everything, usually. And so far, it feels like I’m losing a friend and my mom as much as I’m gaining the man of my dreams.
I don’t want to be a busy body either, so leaving Kane to go make his call, I look around for something else to occupy my mind.
But the whole place is oozing Kane. Saturated in what we’ve been doing since Abby left, which only makes it harder to take my mind off it.
Abby’s advice rings in my ears again, “If you want something, you gotta reach out and grab it.”
Yeah, sure thing, Abby. But you never mentioned what to do if that ‘something’ was your dad.
I tell myself it’s like Kane’s already warned us both. That we’re just gonna have to come clean about everything.
Hiding or pretending what we have is something else is only ever gonna hurt Abby and my mom.
I just didn’t really think it would have to come to a head so soon.
But it’s not as if Kane’s just gonna call her up and tell her over the phone.
He’s more worried about his only daughter in a big city on her own, so I force myself to sit quietly and try to think of happier things until Kane reappears.
He creases a smile, but I can tell that he’s not exactly over the moon about the conversation he just had.
I don’t say anything, leaving it up to Kane to decide how much he wants to share.
If Abby doesn’t tell me everything like we used to, I don’t think even Kane will have much more luck.
He’s brought out his laptop, which he sets up on the outdoor table, and I don’t need clairvoyance to know that he’s looking up flights and hotels.
I feel myself swallow again. But he finally breaks the silence after what feels like ages of semi-tense silence.
“…I’ll go anywhere I like. New York’s big enough for both of us…,” he mutters to himself, and I have to stifle a groan. Knowing I didn’t make it clear to Kane just how much the idea of travel frightens me.
“I mean…,” he says, shakes his head but then changes his mind. Focusing on his laptop instead, I feel myself starting to squirm inside as I worry about what exactly it is he’s planning for us both.
“What did she say?” I finally have to ask. His little side comments to himself as he has a dad moment aren’t making much sense to me.
Kane huffs out a breath, letting his features relax in apology.
“Sorry, Jen. I must sound like a raving lunatic,” he remarks.
Maybe not raving. But he’s pretty close.
Just a worried dad as well as a friend, really.
“She must’ve said don’t come about a dozen times,” he finally sighs.
“You mean don’t come to New York?” I ask, feeling a little better already.
“Yeah! Can you believe it? After what we spoke about the night before she left? I thought going out to see her would make her feel better about the whole thing,” Kane says, sounding more irritated with each word before he curses at his own typing.
Looking like he’s booking our trip anyway, even if it’s just to spite Abby for telling him not to go.
“I don’t know… I just got a bad feeling about her being out there for some reason,” Kane finally says, and I know what he’s going to say long before I hear him say it.
“I need you to come with me, Jen. We need to go find out just what the hell’s going on.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kane
Abby answers my call, and although she tells me everything’s fine, that she’s just busy, I know something’s up.
Dads might not know all the details but they know when something isn’t quite right. And my gut feeling on this whole job in New York is starting to smell fishier than a New York harbor on a hot day.